Bluehooks Diary

Ok well today I have sort of got my grip on reality back. It's not an especially firm grip and it may not last but right now I'm holding on. I returned one of the phone calls I had ignored yesterday and met up with Marina for lunch in town. I didn't have a lot else to do in town except to somehow try and find a way to fix the toilet in the main end of the house. I only found out last night, when I saw the water dripping through the ceiling, that the tank has been leaking for quite a long time due to a steady drip from the inlet valve and an overflow pipe which simply lets the water run out the side of the tank onto the floor. Marina had convinced me to replace the whole assembly and though I didn't hold out much hope I went off to look for one. I picked up a likely looking piece of plumbing equipment in the hardware shop and took it home after asking whether it would fit any toilet and being told that it would indeed.

As soon as I got it to the toilet I realised that there was a difference between a bottom inlet and side inlet tank and had to take it back and change it straight away. Luckily they let me change it even though I had already opened the package and even gave me back the £5 difference. I still didn't believe that it was going to work. I was convinced that something dreadfull was bound to happen. For starters I was having trouble turning off the main stopcock until Lorna fetched me a can of wd40 and a hammer and that finally sorted it out. Luckily Lorna stayed around because it turned out to be a three handed job but actually the thing does seem to be working now. I despaired of ever getting it to fit onto the inlet pipe and I think it only went on because it was cross threaded but it isn't leaking.... or it wasn't the last time I looked.

I had heard the sounds of a tractor while we had been doing that but not really taken much notice since I had started to believe that every tractor I heard was David coming to clear the hay and it never was. It turned out that it was him this time and there is now a huge mound of hay at the bottom of the field which will take a whole day of pitchforking to sort out, but is going to be fantastic for composting and mulching.

We had a life drawing session tonight, the first one for months. It's a sure sign of winter approaching when we start doing that again. Everyone is too busy outdoors or going away in the summer and we can never seem to get it together, but in the winter there's a lot less to do in the evenings.